The present invention relates to radar systems, and more particularly to a radar system using image reconstruction by fanbeam inversion.
Radar systems have many applications, e.g. military and commercial tracking systems and meterological mapping. Classical radar systems use spot or pencil beam antennas which scan a scene pixel by pixel. The pencil beam is formed by a reflector dish or a planar array. Two limitations pertain to these systems, the size and weight of the reflector or array, and the scintillation of a small target due to the fact that each pixel is sampled only once per image cycle. This scintillation is a problem where continuous tracking of small objects is critical.
Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) systems are known which provide considerable savings in size and weight. However, since the return times of the signals are used to determine cross-track position on a surface, SARs are not well adapted to measure range. In other words, while SAR devices are capable surface mappers, they are limited for volumetric imaging required for meteorological mapping and volumetric tracking.
What is needed is an improved volumetric imaging radar with relatively low mass and bulk. Furthermore, it is desirable to have a radar system with more frequent or continuous observation of each pixel to avoid scintillation gaps in the imaging.